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Tag: INRC
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Gaurav Gill tops time-sheets on tarmac Super Special: INRC Nashik rally
Nashik, 31 May 2024: Arjuna Awardee and three-time APRC winner Gaurav Gill, along with co-driver Aniruddh Rangnekar topped the timesheets with a blistering run in the Super Special Stage in the Rally of Maharashtra, the second round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship here on Friday.
A total of 53 cars, including a guest driver in Daksh Gill, took the start in Triple S. There are six cars led by Gaurav Gill in the top INRC class. Western Indian Sports Association, popular as WISA, is conducting an INRC round after 2016. The outfit headed by Ashwin Pandit boasts of a dedicated team and is known to excel in good organisation and conduct of the rally both for the drivers and spectators.
The Delhi daredevil, Gill, has been going through a difficult period for want of a well-prepared machine, has recently partnered with a new co-driver in Pune’s Aniruddh Rangnekar and is raring to go in one of his favourite destinations on tarmac at the Nashik rally, which is held on picturesque foothills of Sahayadri hill ranges. Backed by JK Tyre, the seven-time INRC overall champion, Gill, showed glimpses of his prowess on tarmac clocking more than six seconds faster time than the nearest rival Mangalore’s Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal of Bengaluru, the defending champions. Rao and Rajagopal of Mandovi Racing team, did well to beat seasoned Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik to third, while INRC 3 driver Arnav Pratap Singh along with Rohit N came a stunning fourth in the Overall classification and first in his class, INRC 3.
Jason Saldanha and Thimmu Uddapanda topped the INRC 2 class and also came a creditable sixth in Overall classification after the 2.10km Super Special Stage. Pragathi Gowda in MRF colours, along with new co-driver Sujith Kumar BS came second in the INRC2 class. Trisha Alonkar, her regular navigator, who underwent a surgery recently is still under recovery and rehab. Delhi’s Philippos Matthai and PVS Murthy, also in MRF colours, were third today, but are expected to give a fight on the actual stages from tomorrow.
Defending champions Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal were second fastest in the Super Special Stage at Nashik on Friday. Photos by Srinivasa Krishnan Arnav Pratap Singh and Rohit N were a creditable overall fourth and also topped their class INRC 3. Super Special Stage is a short 2.10km tarmac sprint that is designed to attract spectators. In INRC3, Arnav Pratap Singh and co-driver Rohit N came out triumphant setting the top time while another youngster Arjun Rajiv along with Vinay Padmashali were second. Venunath V and Arun V were third fastest in the Super Special.
Veteran Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Dheeraj Manae clocked the top time in the Gypsy class.
Former champions Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap during SSS. Philippos Matthai and PVS Murthy, overall 8th in Triple S. Including a liaison distance of about 263 km, the total rally distance will be 384.35km. There will be three Special Stages namely, Amboli which is 5.96km long, Dandwal, 22.25km, the longest stage and Poshera stage of 9.31km. All the three stages will be run twice on Saturday. On Sunday, Amboli will be run twice and the two other stages will be run once each making it 10 special stages. This year, there will be no INRC 4 category but NR4 class is included. Since the wear and tear is expected to be negligible on a tarmac stage, Amboli will be run four times with special permission. That will make the rally meet the required distance of Special Stages.
As the real test begins tomorrow, another 118.52km of Special Stage distance needs to be conquered on Saturday and Sunday to claim the honours.
Pragathi Gowda and Sujith Kumar BS, who is sitting for injured Trisha Alonkar, did well in MRF Colours to take the 7th spot in Triple S. The times are only ornamental in nature as real battles start on Saturday. PHOTOS by Srinivasa Krishnan Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah during SSS. Provisional SSS Results: Overall:
1. #4 Gaurav Gill/Aniruddh Rangnekar 1min, 34.5seconds;
2. #1 Aroor Arjun Rao/Satish Kumar Rajagopal 1:40.7;
3. #11 Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik 1:42.3;
4. #43 Arnav Pratap Singh/ Rohit N 1:44.8;
5.#31 Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob 1:44.9;
6. #9 Jason Saldanha/ Thimmu Uddapanda 1:45.9;
7. #23 Pragathi Gowda/ Sujith Kumar 1:46.0;
8. #64 Philippos Matthai/ PVS Murthy 1:46.8;
9. #7 Arjun Rajiv/ Vinay Padmashali 1:47.0;
10. #26 Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad 1:47.2;
INRC
1. #4 Gaurav Gill/Aniruddh Rangnekar 1min, 34.5seconds;
2. #1 Aroor Arjun Rao/Satish Kumar Rajagopal 1:40.7;
3. #11 Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik 1:42.3;
INRC 2
1. #9 Jason Saldanha/ Thimmu Uddapanda 1:45.9;
2. #23 Pragathi Gowda/ Sujith Kumar 1:46.0;
3. #64 Philippos Matthai/ PVS Murthy 1:46.8;
INRC3
1. #43 Arnav Pratap Singh/ Rohit N 1:44.8;
2. #7 Arjun Rajiv/ Vinay Padmashali 1:47.0;
3. #41 Venunath V/ Arun V 1:47.7;
Gypsy Challenge
1. #47 Sanjay Agarwal/ Dheeraj Manae 2:00.3;
2. #52 Dr Akarsh Sundar/ Ravi Kumar 2:03.4;
3. #45 Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP 2:04.5;
Classic
1. #44 Praveen Dwarakanath/ Kariappa KB 2:05.0;
2. #45 Aneeshnath S/ Amitha Aneesh 2:08.4;
3. #55 Shaik Hussain Pasha/ Roshan Claver Crasta 2:13.3;
ends
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Harkrishan-Kunal clinch the victory in APRC Asia Cup; claim INRC hattrick of wins
Chennai, 17 March 2024: On a day of drama, Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kunal Kashyap, Himachal) of Arka Motorsports emerged champions in the 47th MMSC South India Rally, the first round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Asia Cup round and the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
Wadia and Kashyap, who won the last two rounds in the 2023 calendar, made it a hattrick of wins in the INRC and also won the prestigious APRC round even as several leading title contenders retired due to various issues with their vehicles.
Wadia not only topped the round of AVT Gold Cup FIA APRC-Asia Cup but also the season-opener of the Blueband Fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024 besides taking the P1 spot in the INRC 2 category for a triple crown.
His main rivals in Asia Cup, SIDVIN-MRF Tyres sponsored Bengaluru pair of Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonkar, in a Subaru Impreza 4-wheel drive car whose windshield was shattered when hit by a stone thrown by a miscreant in the penultimate Stage, failed to finish as they ran out of fuel two Kms from the finish of the three-day event’s last stage.
Consequently, second spot went to Hyderabad pair of Naveen Puligilla and co-driver Santosh Thomas with Coimbatore’s Ramcharan C (co-driver Jeevarathinam, Bengaluru) of Arka Motorsports completing the podium. Only three of the nine starters in the Asia Cup completed the event.
Former World Rally champion (Production Cars), Karamjit Singh from Malaysia who is training Pragathi, was a shattered man. “We lost P2 in the Asia Cup. We are still figuring out how they ran out of fuel, but on the positive side, I am happy at the progress Pragathi made in the past one week. She was stepping up the pace Stage by Stage and getting comfortable with the car. She has a lot of talent and potential,” said Karamjit.
In the National Championship, Wadia won the Overall and INRC 2 titles with overnight leader Himachal’s Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) were docked a 30-second penalty for late check-in as they stopped to repair a damaged exhaust pipe after completing a Stage, and had to be content finishing second in INRC Overall and INRC 2 categories.
Earlier, overnight leader in the Asia Cup, Aroor Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) of Mandovi Racing, packed up after the day’s first Stage when he lost power steering. Also retiring was Day-1 leader Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah) of DB Motorsport due to a fuel pump issue in the day’s penultimate Stage.
Harkrishan, son of former Rally ace Anil Wadia, could barely stop smiling. “I pushed hard today as I had to make some time. The car was great and I am thankful to MRF Tyres for all the support. I made just one mistake when I overran a corner, but fortunately, it did not impact my position on the leaderboard. Overall, a good start to the season.”
A dejected Thakur rued that he slipped to second after looking primed to win. “We had an exhaust issue. So, after SS-11, we stopped on the transport section to carry out some running repairs. It cost us time and we had to take a 30-second penalty for check-in at the next Time Control. We are extremely disappointed but hope to do better in the next round,” said Thakur.
Kerala’s Vishak Balachandran (co-driver Anil Abbas), supported by MRF Tyres, took the honours in the INRC 3 while Shillong’s Phoebe Nongrum (co-driver Nash Ross, Hyderabad) of SNAP Racing, topped the Women INRC category with two front runners, Anushriya Gulati and Tarushi Vikram retired with mechanical problems. MRF Tyres-backed Arjun Rajiv from Bengaluru (co-driver Vinay Padmashali, Mysuru) of Chettinad Sporting drove well to clinch the title in the Junior INRC category.
Delhi’s Baljinder Singh Dhillon (co-driver CP Gautam, Chikkamagaluru) emerged on top in the Fmsci Challenge Gypsy Cup.
Of the 51 crews who started the Rally, 23 retired. The second round of the INRC is scheduled to be held in Nashik from May 31 to June 2.
Provisional final results:
FIA APRC-Asia Rally Cup:
1. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Kunal Kashyap (Himachal) (Arka Motorsports) (02Hrs, 04mins, 59.8secs); 2. Naveen Puligilla / Santosh Thomas (both Hyderabad) (Pvt.) (02:15:22.0); 3. Ramcharan C (Coimbatore) / Jeevarathinam (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (02:17:24.1).
Blueband Indian National Rally Championship:
INRC Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Kunal Kashyap (Himachal) (Arka Motorsports) (02:04:59.8); 2. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:05:05.0); 3. Vishak Balachandran (Thiruvananthapuram) / Anil Abbas (Ernakulam) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:10:02.6).
INRC 2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia / Kunal Kashyap (02:04:49.8); 2. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (02:05:05.0); 3. Naveen Puligilla / Santosh Thomas (02:15:22.0).
INRC 3: 1. Vishak Balachandran / Anil Abbas (02:10:02.6); 2. Daraious Shroff (Mumbai) / Srikanth Gowda (Chikkamagaluru) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:10:48.1); 3. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Arvind Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (02:11:48.2).
Junior INRC (2 finishers): 1. Arjun Rajiv (Bengaluru) / Vinay Padmashali (Mysuru) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:13:47.9); 2. Ajay Shankar (Kollam)/ S Nitharshan (Kallakurichi) (Mandovi Racing) (02:14:00.0).
Women INRC (2 finishers): 1. Phoebe Nongrum (Shillong) / Nash Ross (Hyderabad) (Snap Racing) (02:28:27.4); 2. Harshitha Gowda (Bengaluru)/ Vignesh Mahalingam (Coimbatore) (Pvt.) (02:45:42.8).
Fmsci Gypsy Challenge: 1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon (Delhi) / Goutham CP (Chikkamagaluru) (Pvt.) (02:21:51.9); 2. Dr Akarsh Sundar (Chikkamagaluru)/ Ravi Kumar (Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (02:24:45.7); 3. Jayanth Somanathan / R Rajashekar (Both Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (02:24:51.9).
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Kelam coconut stage makes it tough for the drivers: A photo gallery
As the Indian National Rally Championship enters its 37th year, the South India Rally provides the season opening thrills by adding another car-breaking stage Kelam, that provided colour to the images with coconut trees everywhere. The bright and beautuful gypsies had their day while many took it easy in the new stage that promises to be better next year.
Here are some images from our celebrated motorsports photographers:
Srinivasa Krishnan Insta: @srinivasakrishnan
Adithya Thakur Anushriya Gulati. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Young turk Arjun Rajiv. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Defending champion Aroor Arjun Rao, who crashed out on Sunday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Veteran evergreen driver Sanjay Agarwal thrills the sparce crowd with a brilliant jump. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Photos by Samuel Rajkumar, www.AceImages.in
Pre-event favourite Karna Kadur and Musa Sherif packed off on Day 2 due to gear box issues. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar Maninder Singh Prince, had his moments before lady luck deserted him. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar Dean Mascarenhas, who led the field after Day 1 displaying some stunning speed was hit with mechanical issues on Day 2. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar The Monster! The car built by APRC legend Possum Bourne and driven by World champion in Production cars Karamjit Singh of Malaysia, who is currently mentoring Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar in their Subaru Impreza #23 at MIC on Friday. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar Photos by Karan Ravi, the young motorsports photographer:
Arnav Pratap Singh and Rohit flying in the track stage on Saturday. Photo by Karan Ravi Arjun Rajiv, the youngest driver in the INRC kicks up dust at the MIC track stage. Photo by Karan Ravi Asia Pacific Rally Championship Asia Cup leg comes to India again. Photo by Karan Ravi Blueband Sports, the Promoters’ branding at the Track stage Starting point for the Track stage. Photo by Karan Ravi Aroor Vikram Rao. Photo by Karan Ravi Harkrishan Wadia, who won back to back rallies towards the end of 2023 is going great guns. Photo by Karan Ravi Clean and calm driving from the Polo Cup racing champ from Hyderabad. He could not resist jumping into the rally car after he drove the Zero car faster than the rest, at the sanghi stages last year… He is now gunning for a podium in his class INRC3. Photo by Karan Ravi Refuelling station all set for action on Day 2. Photo by Karan Ravi Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP, the Delhi-Chikkamagaluru combo in a gypsy running for a podium finish. Photo by Karan Ravi With JK Tyre pulling out of full-time sponsorship of Rally cars, Maninder Singh Prince remains the lone warrior flying the yellow colours. Photo by Karan Ravi -
Dean Mascarenhas hogs limelight finishing fastest in Super Special Stage: INRC Ro1
Chennai, 15 March 2024: Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Konganda Gagan Karumbaiah from Ammati, Kodagu, came up with a stunning drive to top the time sheets in the MMSC 47th South India Rally, the first round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024 (INRC), which saw the 51 competitors doing two loops of the 1.55-km Super Special Stage (SSS) at the Madras International Circuit near here on Friday.
While 30-year-old Mascarenhas (DB Motorsports) did the star turn in his Volkswagen Polo to emerge provisional leader, Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur combining with veteran co-driver Musa Sherif (Kasargod) for the first time, led the field in the AVT Gold Cup FIA APRC Asia Cup, but was only sixth fastest in the combined standings.
Further down the grid, Delhi’s Maninder Singh Prince (co-driver Arjun Dheerendra, Bengaluru) of SNAP Racing, topped in the INRC 2 class while Bengaluru’s Arjun Rajiv (co-driver Vinay Padmashali, Mysuru) took a slender leader in INRC 3 and Junior INRC, and Anushriya Gulati raced to a comfortable lead in the Women INRC categories.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru pair of Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonkar, sponsored by SIDVIN and MRF Tyres, in an All-Wheel Drive Subaru Impreza for the first time, struggled a bit and was placed third in the Asia Cup, behind Kadur and Wadia.
Mascarenhas said: “I am driving the same car as last season which was a bit of up-and-down for me. But today, the car was great and we had no issues with it. Happy to finish the day as the Overall leader, though I am aware it’s still early days and plenty more Stages to negotiate over the next two days.”
The early leaders after Friday’s shootout when two cars raced on parallel tracks, face acid test over the next two days when the competitors head out to Special Stages in AAVISA and Kelam besides the Track.
Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (left) and co-driver Konganda Karumbaiah from Ammati, Kodagu, who clocked the fastest time in the Triple-S on Friday. Photo By Anand Philar Provisional (Unaudited) classification after Day 1 (Section 1, Leg 1):
FIA APRC-Asia Cup: 1. Karna Kadur (Bengaluru) / Musa Sherif (Kasargod) (Arka Motorsports) (02mins, 56.8secs); 2. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Kunal Kashyap (Himachal) (Arka Motorsports) (02:57.7); 3. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Both Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (02:58.7).
Blueband Fmsci Indian National Rally Championship:
Overall: Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru) / Gagan Karumbaiah (Kodagu) (DB Motorsports) (02:53.8); Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:55.3); Younus Ilyas (Kollam) / Chandramouli M (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:55.7).
INRC 2: Maninder Singh Prince / Arjun Dheerendra (02:55.3); Philippos Matthai (Delhi) / PV Srinivasa Murthy (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (02:55.7); 3. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:56.5).
INRC 3: Arjun Rajiv (Bengaluru) / Vinay Padmashali (Mysuru) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:58.6); 2. Sheshank Jamwal (Himachal) / Aseem Sharma (Chandigarh) (Arka Motorsports) (02:58.8); 2. Vishak Balachandran (Thiruvananthapuram) / Anil Abbas (Ernakulam) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:59.3).
Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv (Bengaluru) / Vinay Padmashali (Mysuru) (02:58.6); 2. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Rohit N (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:59.8); 3. Nikhil J (Bengaluru) / Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) (Pvt.) (03:04.3);
Women INRC: 1. Anushriya Gulati (Dehradun) / Karan Aukta (Arka Motorsports) (03:06.0); 2. Tarushi Vikram / Sheraz Ahmed (both Chikkamagaluru) (Pvt.) (03:21.9); 3. Harshita Raj Gowda (Bengaluru) / Vignesh Mahalingam (Coimbatore) (Pvt.) (03:27.1);
Fmsci Challenge – Gypsy: 1. Dr Akarsh Sundar (Chikkamagaluru) / Ravikumar Reddy (Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (03:15.4); 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Dheeraj Manae (both Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (03:16.9); 3. Jayanth Somanathan / R Rajashekar (Pvt.) (03:18.8);
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Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win
Tumakuru, 23 Dec. 2023: Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia and co-driver Kunal Kashyap turned their overnight lead into a memorable victory at the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, and won the 2023 INRC2 title bagging full 40 points in the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, which concluded near Gubbi, here on Saturday.
The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal has already won the Blueband Indian National Rally Championship 2023 Overall title winning the first three rounds and took a 45-point unbeatable lead going into K1000. Wadia and Kashyap of Himachal, after their maiden win at the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu last month, took their second straight Overall victory at K1000 to comfortably clinch the title in their class, the INRC2. “I am delighted with the back-to-back wins and the title is a bonus. I am grateful to my father and I thank all my team, especially Leela sir, Karna, Phil and all the boys. But for them, this would not have been possible,” said the 25-year Harkrishan, the 2020 Junior INRC champ and son of former rally star Anil Wadia.
Harkrishan Wadia, left, and Kunal Kashyap, winners of the Blueband 47th K1000 Rally at Tumakuru on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas along with co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, who were lying in Overall third overnight, finished Overall second ahead of the Snap Racing pair, Younus Ilyas (co-driver Nitin Jacob). Behind Arka Motorsports’ Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), who was driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6, it was 2019 champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivprakash, who took the second place in the INRC2 class. Ritesh Guttedar and Chetan M finished third.
In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, fresh from their exploits in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as winners of K1000 in this class. Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad finished second, which was enough for them to clinch the INRC3 2023 championship. Daraius Shroff and Shahid Salman, who were in title contention till Hyderabad, lost the plot in the last two rounds. They finished third in their class today.
Jahaan Singh, who won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Junior title last month in Indonesia, also won the Junior INRC title.
Ammyfied Rallying pair Abhin Rai and co-driver Rohit Gowda won the K1000 on way to their maiden INRC4 title. Kothamangalam privateers Athul Thomas and Sajil V Saji came second and Praveen Dwarakanath and co-driver Kariyappa KB finished third.
In the Gypsy class, Ammyfied Rallying made a clean sweep of the podium led by Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra. Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy were second and that was enough for them to clinch the 2023 FMSCI Gypsy Cup. Dr Akarsh Sunder and V Sekar, who finished third amassed more points but lost on “N minus one’ rule, where drivers can discard one round.
Anushriya Gulati, who won the K1000 Rally, also clinched the Ladies Class championship for 2023.
Of the 59 entries, only 30 cars finished. Six cars on Day 1 and 21 cars on Day 2 did not finish.
Final Provisional Results:
Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01hr, 26min, 53.5seconds); 2. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (01:27:57:2); 3. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Snap Racing) (01:28:06.1);
INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01:26:53.5); 2. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:30:34.4); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Suraj M (Pvt.) (01:32:27.5);
INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:29:39.0); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:30:02.0);
INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:36:25.2); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:47:34.0); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:51:05.2):
Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:40:02.9); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:43:29.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:44:03.3);
Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 2. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:33:14.2); 3. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:34:45.2);
Ladies Class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:51:35.1);
INRC Champions for 2023:
Overall 2023 Rally champion: Aroor Arjun Rao/ Satish Rajagopal;
INRC2: Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports);
INRC3: Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing);
INRC4: Abin Rai/ Rohit Gowda;
Ladies Class: Anushriya Gulati;
Junior INRC: Jahaan Singh Gill;
Gypsy Cup: Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy;
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Harkrishan, Kunal duo leads Day 1 again at the iconic K1000 Rally: INRC
Tumakuru, 22 Dec. 2023: Delhi daredevil and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill, began with a bang and clocked the fastest stage times in the first two special stages but it was his compatriot young gun Harkrishan Wadia, also from Delhi, who stole the limelight beating the best in the next two stages to emerge as the Overall leader at the end of Day 1 in the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, near Gubbi, on Friday. In the previous Kodagu Rally also, the duo took the lead on Day 1 and went on to win the Overall title the next day.
The popular Blueband K1000 Rally, organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), is the oldest running rally in India and threw more surprises as Wadia, along with Kunal Kashyap of Himachal Pradesh, fresh from their maiden Overall victory at the Kodagu Rally, dominated the proceedings with a late charge and the multiple-champion Gill, who won K1000 many times is trailing in the fifth position, about 84 seconds behind the leaders. Championship leaders Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal, continued to suffer hiccups, but the duo have already clinched their maiden INRC title, with a round to spare.
Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the Leg 1 on top on Day 1 but they need to sustain the tempo for a flourish on the last day of the season tomorrow. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Younus Ilyas and co-driver Nitin Jacob emerged Day 1 in second followed by Mangaluru’s speed merchant Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah in third.
In INRC2, former champions Philippos Matthai and co-driver PVS Murthy are following Wadia in second and 2019 champion Chetan Shivram is in third along with his navigator E Shivaprakash.
Shivani Parmar (co-ddriver Arjun Dheerendra) leads the Ladies Class after Day 1 at the K1000 Rally near Gubbi on Friday. Due to Christmas, the K1000 Rally finishes on Saturday, instead of the traditional Sunday. In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, who did well in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as leaders with a late kick pushing behind Shashank Jamwal and Aseem Sharma to second. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh along with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing, who already clinched the Junior INRC title for 2023, is in third place. They are table leaders before going into K1000.
“I have a comfortable margin of over 40 seconds, but I am not going to relax. We will carry the tempo and go for it on the final day of the season. It felt good in the last two stages and I want to keep up the momentum,” said the day’s leader, Harkishan Wadia, who came into prominence in the Asia Pacific Rally Star event at Chennai last year.
Abhin Rai is leading INRC4 class along with co-driver Rohit Gowda, and the Ammyfied Rallying team is looking for a strong finish tomorrow. In the Gypsy Class, another Ammyfied team of Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra are in P1 looking to sustain the good run on Saturday.
Provisional Results after Day 1:
Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00hrs, 58min, 26.2seconds); 2. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Pvt.) (00:59:11.7); 3. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (00:59:14:4);
INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00:58:26.2); 2. Philippos Matthai/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Arka Motorsports) (00:59:27.2): 3. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:00:44.0);
INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:00:09.7); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:00:38.0).
INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:10:39.5); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:12:48.3):
Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04;58.5); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:09:11.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:09:24.8);
Ladies Class: 1. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinadu Sporting) (01:03:43.0); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:03:55.8); 3. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:04:25.0).
Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 2. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:03:41.5).
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Harkrishan, Kunal duo takes lead after Day 1 at Rally Robusta: INRC Ro5
Kodagu, 18 Nov. 2023: Delhi driver Harkrishan Wadia, along with Himachal’s Kunal Kashyap did a splendid job to take the overall lead in the Round 5 of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship at the end of Day 1 at the Special Stages near here on Saturday. The Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu, organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy, offered a tricky and tough terrain that saw 21 cars, of the 61 that started, fail to finish the course on Day 1.
Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the tough Anandpura and Polibetta competitive stages after Day 1. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing came overall second and topped the INRC3 class after six Special Stages on Saturday. The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Vikram RAo and co-driver AG Somayya of Chettinad Sporting were placed overall third with six more stages to go on Sunday.
“The day was full of adrenaline. The stages were fast and flowing but down to narrow and bumpy at places from time to time. I thank Arka Motorsport for giving us the perfect car even after the damages at Hyderabad rally. The strategy for Sunday is to do nothing different but follow up on today’s pace. keep the car on road and drive fast,” said Wadia after a tough day.
Vikram Rao and Sahil Khanna (co-driver Harish KN) are following Wadia in INRC2 class while Jahaan Singh Gill is also leading his INRC3 class with Daraious Shroff (co-driver Shahid Salman) and Sheshank Jamwal (Harish KN) trailing him in that order. Abin Rai and Aravind Dheerendra of Ammyfied Rallying were leading INRC4 class while Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy topped the Gypsy class on Day 1.
Provisional Results after Day 1:
Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0).
INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0); 3. Sahil Khanna/ Harish KN Gowda(Snap Racing) (01:02:41.8).
INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. Daraious Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:02:51.8); 3. Sheshank Jamwal/ Ashish Sharma (Arka Motorsports) (01:03:08.2);
INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 2. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7); 3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM (Pvt.) (1:12:19.2).
Gypsy: 1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:10:14.6); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Phalguna Raghavendra (pvt) (01:11:28.6); 3. Michu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (Pvt.) (01:11:40.3).
Ladies: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:06:22.8); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:06:52.9); 3. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad) (01:07:45.7).
Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. . Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 3. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7).
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KJ Jacob and Shanmuga triumph at Rally of Hyderabad; Big guns topple
Hyderabad, 29 October 2023: KJ Jacob and co-driver Shanmuga SN bagged their maiden big victory as they became the Overall winners of the Rally of Hyderabad, the fourth round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 at Sanghi Nagar, near Ramoji Film City, here on Sunday.
Thrissur’s KJ Jacob, who made his debut in the INRC in 2015 at K1000 rally in Bengaluru, took his first Overall victory. Ably assisted by co-driver Shanmuga of Bengaluru, the duo driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 punched above their weight. Hyderabad’s tough terrain and, the longest special stage among the current rally venues in, India, proved daunting as the top-three in both the INRC1 and INRC2 and many overnight leaders, fell by the way side in the final stage. Of the eight premier class cars, driven by top guns in the country, only Younus Ilyas finished the punishing course.
Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas and young turk Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, both driving the lower INRC3 spec Polo 1.6 cars finished Overall second and third. Jacob and Shanmugha also won the INRC2 class while Vishakh and Anil took the INRC3 victory.
Vivek Ruthuparna and co-driver Athreya Kousgi won the INRC4 while talented Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar bagged the Ladies class. Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP won the Gypsy class.
Revised Provisional Results: Overall: 1. Jacob KJ, Thrissur /Shanmugh, Bengaluru, Team Arka Motorsports (1hour, 54minutes, 29.2seconds); 2. Vishakh Balachandran/ Anil Abbas (1:55:18.0); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7);
INRC2: 1.Jacob KJ/ Shanmugha SN, (1:54:29.2); 2. Ritesh Guttedar / Suraj M (1:57:01.2); 3. Chetan Shivram/ Shiv Prakash (1:58:02.9).
INRC3: 1. Vishakh Balachandran, Thrissur/ Anil Abbas, Ernakulam (1:55:18.0); 2. Arjun Raj:iv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7); 3. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmu Uddapanda (1:56:04.7).
INRC4: 1. Vivek Ruthuparna, Chikkamagaluru/ Athreya Kousgi, Mumbai (2:11:07.5); 2. Safeekuddin/ Arun V (2:21.41.8);
Ladies: 1.Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Alonka (Both Bengaluru) (1:58.07.5); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (2:11:45.3).
Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv; 2. Jahaan Singh Gill; 3. Vivek Ruthuparna.
Gypsy (non championship):1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP (2:16:23.5); 2. Sanjay Lal/ V Sekar (2:17:10.7); 3. Abhishek Gowda/ Dhiraj Manae (2:18:01.6).
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Philippos Matthai wins INRC2, claims stunning overall 2nd; Third win for Aroor Arjun Rao
Coimbatore, 30 July 2023: Philippos Matthai, the Delhi Daredevil from Team Speedsport, claimed a stunning victory in the INRC2 class and finished ahead of many higher-spec cars with an Overall second, even as Aroor Arjun Rao continued his winning spree in the top Overall class annexing the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 for four-wheelers which concluded here at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday.
Hat-trick of INRC wins: Aroor Arjun Rao and Sathish Rajagopal en route to a big win in the Rally of Coimbatore at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday. Photo by Rahul Reghu Team Mandovi Racing’s Aroor Arjun Rao with co-driver Satish Rajagopal put in a consistent performance to notch up his third Overall victory in as many rounds and retained his Championship lead while Philippos Matthai and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy in a Volkswagen Polo prepared by Leelakrishnan of Arka Motorsports powered to the top of the podium winning INRC2 and beat all the other top-spec INRC cars except that of Arjun Rao in the Overall standings. In the last round in Arunachal Pradesh, Philippos finished second in INRC2 and came Overall 5th after a forgettable first round in the South India Rally where he was forced to pullout within 2-km of the finish due to mechanical problems while leading second Overall.
Pre-event favourites Arjun Awardee Gaurav Gill (Aniruddha Rangnekar) and defending champion Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) failed to finish the rally.
“With a calculated strategy we garnered as many points as possible in the previous two rallies and our consistent and steady performance helped as we are back on the top in our class. I am very happy and with three more rallies to go, our target is to win the championship,” said the 39-year four-time National champion in different motorsports disciplines. The lawyer by education and car-builder and rally driver by passion, Philippos is remembered for driving the medical chase car at the F1 Grands Prix races held at Buddh International Circuit in 2012 and 2013.
Philippos Matthai and PVS Murthy in the windmill section… Photo by Rahul Reghu Talented Chandigarh driver Jahaan Singh Gill along with Suraj Keshav Prasad won the INRC3 class ahead of Jason Saldanha of Mangaluru with co-driver Thimmu Uddapanda, who last week got on to the podium of RAAT the Rally of Thailand in their class.
Aroor Arjun Rao, left, and Sathish Rajagopal, after sweeping all the three rounds, celebrate in Coimbatore on Sunday. Supplied photo Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi claimed INRC4 category beating Shirole Prakhyat and Bharath SM by a huge distance. Behind them the Chikkamagaluru paid of Prajwal HM and Vinay SM finished in third place.
Dehradun’s Anushriya Gulati with a new co-driver in Sherwin Dalmeida of Managaluru won the Ladies class. Representing Dark Don Rallying, the duo had a huge lead over second-placed Nikeetaa Takkale (Venu Ramesh Kumar). Mumbai’s Shivani Parmar and Bengaluru”s Arjun Dheerendra of Chettinad Sporting finished third.
Provisional Results: Final Unaudited Classification:
Overall: 1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;
2. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;
3. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1;
INRC:
1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;
2. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1.
3. Rahul Kanthraj Vivek Y Bhatt (Both Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) 1: 55: 39.1;
INRC2:
1. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;
2. Fabid Ahmer/ Sanath G, both Palakkad (Chettinad Sporting) 1:54:37.7;
3. Dr Bikku Babu / Milen George, Both Ernakulam, (Chettinad Sporting) 1:55.00.3;
INRC3:
1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) 1:55:37.6;
2. Jason Saldanha, Bengaluru/ Thimmu Uddapanda, Coorg(Dark Don Rallying) 1: 55:45.3;
3. Daraious Shroff, Mumbai/ Shahid Salman, Bengaluru(Chettinad Sporting) 1:57:04.5.
INRC4:
1. Ruthuparna Vivek/ Athreya Kousgi, Privateers, both Chikkamagaluru 2: 03:10.5;
2. Shirole H Prakhyat/ Bharath SM, Both Bengaluru, 2:06:32.6;
3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM, pvt, both Chikkamagaluru, 2:12:40.6;
Gypsy:
1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Both Coorg) Ammyfied Rallying, 2:06:10.7;
2. Abhishek Gowda, Chikkamagaluru/ Dheeraj Manae, Pvt, Bengaluru 2:07:29.6;
3.Jayanth Somanathan/ R Rajashekar, Pvt, 2:12:16.0.
Ladies class:
1. Anushriya Gulati, Dehradun/ Sherwin Dalmeida, Mangaluru, (Dark Don Rallying) (1:49:14.2);
2. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied Rallying) (2:02:18.4);
3. Shivani Parmar, Mumbai/ Arjun Dheerendra, Bengaluru (Chettinad Sporting) (2:22:47.0).
Junior INRC:
1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) (1:55:37.6);
2. Ajay Sankar, Kollam/ Nitharshan, Kollakurichi, pvt, (1:59:21.7);
3. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied) 2:02:18.4);
(Note: Results corrected after release of Official results)
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Gaurav Gill raring to go; Arjun Rao keen to keep the lead; 23 Ammyfied cars
Coimbatore, 28 July 2023: Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill and co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar are eager to bounce back while championship leader Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal are looking to looking for a decent finish to garner as many points as possible to keep their title fight alive as the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four wheelers begins at the Kethanur Windmill farms here on Saturday.
A total of 76 cars are in fray for the rally organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, one of the oldest and founder clubs of fmsci, the Indian federatioin. Though this high number is not a National record, it is one of the events with highest number of competitors in fray. Of these, 23 cars are fielded by Ammyfied Rallying which is sponsored by businessman Vamcy Merla through his sports foundation.
After the ceremonial start at the traditional Jenneys club on Friday evening, the drivers looked confident with the recce under their belt and Philippos Matthai who just managed to log in some important points in the slippery mountains of Itanagar is raring to go all out in the fast stages of Coimbatore in INRC2 class. The Arka Motorsports driver from Delhi in a rally-tuned Polo will have a fight in hand with Kerala drivers and former champions Dr ‘Speed’ Bikku Babu (Milen George) and advocate Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G).
Jehan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad, dominated with their raw speed last year but became victims to some errors by the tuners. This year Jehan Singh Gill is expected to showcase his talent to be in the frontrunners not only in INRC3, his class, but is capable of beating the higher-spec machines. Arnav Pratap Singh (Arjun SSB), Darious Shroff (Shahid Salman) and Vishak Balachandran (Anil Abbas) will be vying with each other to be on the top in INRC3 which has a huge number of 28 cars.
The cars to watch out for in the INRC4 class are Abhin Rai and co-driver Uday Kumar, Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi, and Jagpreeth Singh Nirwan and Karanpreet Singh Mattu, who are leading the championship in that order.
The Gypsy class, which is a non-championship Cup event, has attracted more numbers thanks to the generosity of Vamcy Merla.
Both the Junior INRC and Ladies class will also have stiff competition with the season getting into the midway mark.
The windmill stages are fast and have two physical stages namely the 8.4km SM Agro and 10.4km BBS which will be run thrice each on Saturday. On Sunday, the longer special stages of Black Thunder (18.2km) and Thunder World (14.99km) will be run twice in the same direction.
The next round of the six-round calendar, K1000, is expected to be near Bengaluru in August.
